Okay, here's chapter four. I got the stuff about the missions for this chapter from my trip to Guatemala. It wasn't the best thing I ever saw, but, you know. The world happens. Anyway…I know you've been waiting for a while, I was trying to get a chapter done for a different story. And watching "Spy Next Door" and checking my e-mail, and-well, you get the point. Here, since I haven't done a disclaimer yet…
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Twilight or any of the characters from there that are involved in my story. I only slightly own Emmy. She is more owned by one of my friends: EmEm34, and another one of my friends who doesn't have a FanFiction account. (Sadly). And I don't own much of this, I got ideas from other stories that I read on Quizilla.
Anyways, how about we continue on to the fourth chapter of this story, shall we?
My Life Isn't Always Perfect, But Sometimes, It Can Seem Like It
Chapter Four
At a quarter past three, Sister Lucille brought the weekly meeting of the St. Dominic's Boys and Girls Scout Meeting to order. She, Father McCabe, and our mothers were the only ones who used our full name. We preferred just plain "Scouts." It was bad enough that the girls had little feathery white wings on our beanies. I kind of liked them until I marched in our Christmas parade next to the public school kids. They nearly bust a gut laughing at us.
"Kids! Kids!" Sister Lucille said, clapping her big, chapped hands together. "Settle down now! We've got a very full meeting today! Father McCabe will be stopping by in just a bit to show us his slides of the missions in Guatemala. Then we've got to plan our special holiday project for the poor."
I adored Sister. She had curly caramel hair like mine. When I was a first grader, she let me peek up under her stuff white nun wimple to let me see it. Beth said Sister Lucille was on official nun probation and might lose her job for flirting with the priests. But Beth could only be making that up because she knew I liked Sister Lucille.
"Esme, let's take roll quickly-just an informal head count is fine, and then we'll move quickly on to our program."
"Yes Sister, but don't forget we have to collect dues for this month," I said, jumping up, "We were supposed to do it last week, but you took us out to the nursing home and we didn't get back in time."
"Oh! Dues-that's right. How could I have forgotten?" she put a finger to her lips. "I'm afraid we are on a very tight schedule today. We mustn't keep Father waiting. Perhaps we could just take roll for now?"
"But I brought my money today, Sister!" Dana Abercrombie said.
"Me too!" Several other girls jumped in.
"St. Dominic Scouts, if we have time, we'll collect dues later."
"I'll get the roll sheet then, Sister." I said. "It'll only take a second." I jumped up from my place in the Hallelujah circle and dashed over to the supply closet. It wasn't that I was so hot about taking roll; I just wanted to make sure the lockbox was okay. It would be just like Beth to leave it open. I'd been holding the keys so tight since Beth gave them to be after school that I had little key engravings in the palm of my hand.
I loved being treasurer. Mom was so proud of me when I got elected. I had a hunch that Sister Lucille had something to do with me winning the election. She probably got all her nun friends to stuff the ballot box in my favor. I think it was their way of trying to show everyone that it didn't matter to them about my dad, and that they could trust a Platt kid.
I hummed under my breath to the Scouts song they were singing while I opened the closet door. The treasury box with little angel stickers all over the lid was right where it was supposed to be-whew!
I put the small key in the padlock and pulled the lid open.
A little chill crawled up my back. The ledger card on top showed the balance of $87.75-but the card was sitting very, very low in the box. I lifted the card up, and stared at the three quarters and stubby pencil sitting alone at the bottom.
My short life passed before my eyes.
I blinked and looked again. The cash was gone! There was no fifty-dollar bill from Principal Obermeyer, no familiar wrinkled dollar bills, no fives, no tens. We'd been robbed! I tried to drag in a breath of air, but it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. This had to be a joke-Beth and Phil's idea. I could just hear them plotting. Hey, Phil, want to see my little sister go totally psycho at the Scout meeting?
I licked my lips and stuck my head out the closet door. The group had finished their song and everyone had their heads bowed for the opening prayer. All except Beth, who was eyeing the closet door. I gave her my meanest, maddest look and motioned her to come over right NOW.
She closed her eyes and started praying with the group all of a sudden.
I cleared my throat, but she ignored me. I coughed three times-she kept praying. God was probably stunned; since I'm pretty sure He hadn't heard from Beth in a long time. I coughed like I had a chain saw caught in the back of my throat.
"Esme!" Sister Lucille called over to me. "Are you all right? I'll be right there-"
I jammed the lock back on the treasury and clicked it closed.
Beth leapt up, making a quick sign of the cross. "I'll take care of it, Sister. Sometimes she just needs a good whack on the back…" She hurried over and took my arm. She pulled me back into the closet and walloped me a good one between the shoulder blades.
"Ou-u-uch!" I cried in my loudest whisper.
"Well, what are you bugging me for?"
"Like you don't know!" I said, feeling crazy inside. "Where's the money? I want it all back this second, Beth!"
She glared at me, her eyes like mean little marbles. "Just shut up, Esme!" It's only a few bucks! Big flipping deal! I'll have it back to you by next week. If you want, I'll pay the treasury an extra dollar for interest."
"A few bucks?" I hissed. "You call eighty-seven dollars a few bucks? You could go to prison for that, just like-"
"Eighty-seven dollars? What are you talking about? I borrowed twenty bucks. That's all that was in there! And some quarters."
"You're lying! And you told me you were going to make change for Principal Obermeyer!"
She shrugged. "Well, okay, I made that part up! I knew you wouldn't loan me any money out of the box if I asked. All I did was come in here, open the box, and take four fives out. Then I locked up the box, locked the closet door, and gave the keys to you after last period."
"But all the money's GONE, Beth! I knew you took it and I want it back NOW!" I sputtered, spit flying everywhere.
She clapped her hand over my mouth and dragged me deep into the corner of the closet. She whispered right down my ear canal, her breath hot. "Just-shut-up-right-now, or everyone is going to hear!"
Sister Lucille poked her head around the corner. "Girls! Is everything all right?" she looked at the treasury box I held clutched to my chest.
"We're fine, Sister!" Beth said, barely loosening the choke hold she had on me. "Sometimes Esme can't stop coughing. Mom and I have this special way of helping her. We just have to hold her real close and help her do some deep breathing." She looked down at me. "Are you feeling better now, Esme?" she asked me in a voice I didn't recognize.
I cleared my throat. "Um, ah, yes! Thanks!"
"Well," Sister said, glancing at her watch. "Hurry along, you two! Let's take roll before Father McCabe arrives. Just leave the treasury in here for now, all right?"
"Right!" I squeaked. "I-I-I didn't even open it!"
Beth shoved me out in front of her. "Keep your mouth shut or you'll never see fifth grade."
I sat down at the small desk next to the Hallelujah circle. Beth sat back down next to Phil and kept a hard eye on me. I scraped my front teeth back and forth over my bottom lip-a nervous habit Mom was hoping I'd outgrow.
"Esme?" Sister Lucille said, gently prompting me to begin. "Do you have your roll sheet?"
"Uh, yes, Sister." I reached into my backpack and pulled out my Scout folder. "I had it in here all the time. I don't know why I thought it was in the closet. Dana Abercrombie?" I called, trying not to shriek.
"Here!" she said. She waved a ten-dollar bill over her head. "I'm paying for two months, so I don't need change today."
"Okay!" I said, "Just hang on to it for now."
"Maya Bently?" I called.
"Here!" she jumped up from the circle and came over to the desk. "I need change. My mom only had a ten. I need five back."
"Kids!" Sister Lucille called out. "We're not doing dues right now. Let Esme get through roll."
I took a big gulp of air. "Ginger Cohen?"
"Here! And I'll need change for a twe-e-e-nty today when you're re-e-eaaaaday for it!" she sang.
The classroom door flew open and Father McCabe rolled in on the back of a cart with a slide projector sitting on top. "Greetings, my school's scouts." He boomed, he jumped off the cart and gave a big bow. "AND my beautiful Scout leader!" he said, giving Sister Lucille a big toothy smile.
She ducked from our view and began sitting up chairs so we could all see better.
"He-ellllo Fa-ther!" we all chanted.
Sister Lucille dimmed the lights as he launched into his talk. He had one of those remote-control clickers on his slide projector that just seemed to thrill the heck out of him. Father McCabe loved the missions like some men loved fancy cars or golf or racehorses. Once you got him started, he could barely be stopped. I looked at the clock. It was already twenty-five minutes to four. If we could keep him going until a quarter past, I'd be safe.
Beth was watching Father McCabe, I noticed, and not the slides. Beth loved men, even priests, as much as Father McCabe loved the missions.
For the next half-hour, my mind was blurred with visions of near-naked children eating white rice and oatmeal with their fingers, and crying babies getting shots in their behinds from people with giant white smiles. In between Father McCabe's slides, I'd see ones of me and Beth sitting near naked in a small prison cell eating rice with our fingers. I shuddered and tried to close my eyes to it, but I couldn't get rid of the picture.
I felt a pair of eyes on me and turned. HG was staring at me, like maybe he was seeing the same pictures I was. Then he pointed to his mouth and then at me. I put my hand to my mouth and it was wet. He scooted over to me and handed me a tissue. "You're bleeding." He said, his voice soft.
"Thanks" I said, and tried to blot the blood off. Mom would have a fit when she saw me like this. I hadn't done my lip bad enough to make it bleed since Grandpa died.
The lights flipped on, blinding us all. Sister Lucille pulled up the shades. "Father, that was wonderful! Thank you for coming to share that with us. We're going to look at some fun photos of our last Scout fund-raiser; then we've got some marvelous snacks to share while we plan our holiday project for the poor. We hope you'll stay."
"And don't forget the dues!" Maya called.
"Sister! Sister!" I said, jumping up. "I was hoping we could have some time to, um, uh, ask Father some questions. Gosh, I've got about a million questions about the missions."
"Me too, Sister!" Beth piped up.
"Well, all right girls!" she said, thrilled at our interest. "It looks like everyone is here, so we don't have to finish roll."
"E-s-meeeee! I still need change for a twenty!" Ginger sang.
"Sister?" HG said, climbing to his feet and raising his hand. "I have an idea."
"Yes, Carlisle?" Sister Lucille asked, trying to hide the surprise on her face. I don't think HG had ever talked in Scouts before. He just came because his mother made him.
"I think we should just all give our dues today to Father McCabe for the missions in Guatemala." He said in a rush.
Beth rushed up, "Great idea!" she plucked Phil's beanie from her head. "I'll second that!"
Father McCabe beamed and gave us all an extra blessing while Beth went around the circle and stood in front of each girl until she dropped her money into the hat. No one was going to argue with Beth about this. By the time she got to Ginger and Maya, there was enough to make change right out of the hat.
I was saved, for the moment, at least. But I still had eighty-seven big problems that were not going away anytime soon. And one big sister who was going straight to hell-but NOT until she paid the treasury back.
There you go, chapter four. Hope you liked it! Keep reading this story! And, no, I actually did write most of this whole story, all ideas from this were from my brain and overactive imagination, personally. A lot of it comes from my sister, too. She's a piece of work. Heehee, just kidding…kind of.
